I’m reblogging Sally Cronin’s new series at her Smorgasbord where Sally forages through our archives and chooses a post to share on her blog. Sally kicked off the series with my post about names and the varied mispronunciations.
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Welcome to the new series of Posts from Your Archives and I will be sharing posts from the SECOND six months of 2023 from your archives.
If you wish to be included the information is at the the end of the following post which is from the previous series, and shows you what it will look like.
In this first post by D.G. Kaye, she explores how her names have resulted in some energetic tongue twisting….
What’What’s in a name? Better yet, why are some names so confusing for some people to pronounce, no matter how simple?s in a name? Better yet, why are some names so confusing for some people to pronounce, no matter how simple?
What’s in a name? Better yet, why are some names so confusing for some people to pronounce, no matter how simple?
Do you know anyone for almost a lifetime who still doesn’t know how to spell your name?
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How about having a four-letter last name that people cannot only not spell correctly, but also mispronounce? Even better, my first name is spelled wrong by over 90% of people who formally correspond with me, that would be Debby, not Debbie.
Ya, that be me. And to think that all through my school years – elementary through high school, when I’d cringe at roll calls because it seemed no teacher of mine ever seemed to know how to pronounce my last name back then too. I used to dream about the day I’d marry to kick away my maiden name to one that someone could say correctly – or spell for that matter.
Back in the school days, my family name was Kushnir. This is pronounced ‘Kush – as cushion, nir – as in nerd without the d’. But sadly, I never heard it pronounced correctly. It always sounded like ‘Kush – as in, rhymes with lush, and nir – as in, rhymes with fear’. I could never wrap my head around it, especially from teachers, I would have expected better. So everyday at roll call I’d suck it up and prepare for humiliation as the letter K approached. The kids who found it funny would think of some more embarrassing versions and rhymes – like ‘tush’. I’d dream of the day I could change my name, but never figured four simple letters would be a condundrum for so many.
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So, I get married, and happily take on what I thought was my husband’s simple and short last name. I thought, alas, a simple four-letter name. Not. It turns out, the last name Gies is a puzzle or a mouthful for many. . . please visit Sally’s blog for the conclusion.
I love quotes. Why? Because they are snippets of wisdom, profound passages, or perhaps, statements that resonate with us personally. I am positive we all have a favorite quote – or twenty that we carry with us in a hidden part of our minds. Many quotes can be cliche, yet, still remain evergreen to our ever evolving world.
Quotes are often taken from profound words spoken, or from a highlighted passage that struck a reader – or perhaps from the writer himself, and shared to make a statement. A quote is a condensed statement of a truth, a belief, or simply, something that resonated with someone taken from a passage of a book.
xFavorite Quotes:hhhhh
Below I’m sharing a few of my favs and why.
Favorie Quotes:
Fite uotes:
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.”
Anne Lamott
I aspire to become bolder in time, more courage to write about the people I want to write about. I remember coming across this quote while reading Lamott’s Bird by Bird before I published my first book, Conflicted Hearts, and feeling empowered when I was apprehensive about writing about family.
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“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” …
Maya Angelou
I couldn’t agree more. Just like a writer learns to ‘show don’t tell,’ actions will always speak louder than words.
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“Remember this because it will happen many times in your life. When people show you who they are the first time believe them.”
Maya Angelou
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This quote goes hand-in-hand with with Angelou’s above quote. Behavior speaks louder volumes than words that can be misleading.
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“Everywhere, everywhere, children are the scorned people of the earth.”
Toni Morrison
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This quote can be interpreted globally. Children will always be the collateral in a damaged environment or world.
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“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.”
C.S. Lewis (from his 1961 book – A Grief Observed)
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This was one of the first books I read on grief after losing my husband. Lewis wrote about the agony of losing his beloved wife. It so resonated with me as I can attest to the fear of everything new in an old life that is no longer familiar.
I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to have to write about it, but the world around me is spiraling, especially in my city, and country. Hamas has used their psychological warfare perfectly and has sent the world into a simmering pot of anti-semitism. Right, anti-semitism is nothing new, only Hamas unscrewed the lid off the jar of lies and the world ate it up. I write because I WILL NOT BE SILENT.
From the Universities here and there – and everywhere to Jewish establishments being blocked from business, to police having to guard Jews so they can go to synagogue to pray, and so children can continue to go to school, to the warnings to Jews FROM ISRAEL to Jews ‘across the planet’ to refrain from wearing Jewish symbolism. That’s our freedom!
When Hamas attacked Israel, the world became divided between Jews and Palestinians. You can cut the hatred with a knife it’s so omni-present. When people are uneducated, or don’t bother to learn about what is going on, they choose sides. This war began with the heinous hatred Hamas has for the Jews. Period. Their mission is to wipe out Israel. There is no peace agreement. They aren’t fighting for land or even a two-State country, they are fighting to rid the world of Jews. The Palestinians just happen to be their hostages since 2006 in Gaza. They don’t care about human life – Jewish or otherwise, and use their own as human shields. What people don’t get about this war is it’s not about territory, but democracy. If Hamas and their buddies, Hezbolah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and the whatevers in Syria, under the rule of Iran, can take out Israel, they will no longer have to worry about the West. The tiny spec of a country amidst a vast land of Arab countries has fought for their survival since the beginning of time. Gratefully, the US stands with Israel, and that’s the only thing scaring the Arab world. Sadly, because of Gaza gaslighting the Israelis in this war as part of their lying psychological warfare of spreading propaganda, and sorrowful lack of media showing ‘the odd’ snapshot of what’s going on in Israel, the world has been swayed by lies and social media to fan flames, and suddenly it became Jews against Arabs around the world?
The Palestinians are egged on by their Arab bretheren – I might add, the Arab bretheren anywhere aren’t offering them to come to their countries, but they egg on the Palestinians globally with their hate messages, and who are now having wild protests all over the world with their drummed in hatred. I know the US is trying hard to stomp it out before it becomes a national forest fire. But here in Canada, it feels like every man for himself. People need to learn the difference between Palestinians and Hamas – the terrorist group who holds Gaza Palestinians hostage daily since 2006. There is also the West Bank where Palestinians live, only they have different rights because they’re led by Palestinian Authority who, believe it or not, works with Israeli forces. They are not led by Hamas and happen to live amicably with Israeli Jews. Please learn who the terrorists are.
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This video needs to be spread around the world. People are always so happy to hate and jump on the band wagon of whatever social media is chanting without education. This professor of Columbian University is calling for government action to stop the hatred across campuses.
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I also wanted to share this important video that came out last week. The speaker is none othI also wanted to share this video that came out last week. The speaker is none other than the son of Hamas leader speaking about the terror of Hamas!er than the son of Hamas leader speaking about the terror of Hamas!MUST WATCH!
518,641 views 28 Oct 2023Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas leader, Hassan Yousef, delivers a powerful new message to people around the world that chant “Free Palestine”.
I wanted to share this video that came out last week. The speaker is none other than the son of Hamas leader speaking about the terror of Hamas and the world. A three-minute must listen.
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This war has been the focus of biased media with cameras on Gaza, and the forgotten issue about who started the war, slaughtered over 1400 Jews at a dance concert, in their homes, in their beds. Babies, elderly, children, men, women, and the disabled, stolen or slaughtered in their homes one early Saturday morning on a holiday weekend. Heads severed, babies and others burned alive tied together. Pregnant women had their stomachs sliced open and stabbed, both mother and baby. One baby was put in an oven. Others who ran to their bomb shelters had their houses burned down with them in them. All of the aforementioned, I saw with my eyes as my stomach wretched from both IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and Hamas videos released. I’ve seen it in various global newspapers, videos, and various world news channels. None of these shown on Canadian airwaves since it happened SO LONG AGO, and the focus is now on Palestine and their terrorist leaders. I will also give a thank you shoutout to Rogers TV and communications for giving us the live Israel channel i24, free in our channel lineup so we can hear and see the truths with our own eyes and ears.
The world has almost forgotten about the Israeli massacre of October 7th and turned their focus to divide and hate. There is bloodshed on both sides, yet the context of this war has been so misconstrued. This is a war between terrorism and democracy, but the world turned it into the Jews against Palestinians, when in fact it’s about rooting out Hamas terrorism. But the damage is done.
Here in Canada, our government is busy allowing Palestinians to have frequent protests, chanting in English ‘free Palestine’, then chanting in Arabic,’death to the Jews’ as though nobody will get it except them. I appreciate the many who translate these videos for Canadians to see what’s going on. Sadly, the Prime Minister or Canadian media hasn’t caught on.
Here is a video of the now typical day in my city since October 7th. The video was taken by journalist Igal Hecht:
Meanwhile the world has drank Hamas’ Koolaid when they started their psychological warfare by announcing that Israel took down their hospital, when in fact it was they who did it because they have no value for human life and use their citizens as human shields. But, the genie was out of the bottle, as the old cliche goes and the world went with it. Tag you’re it, the Jews are back to being ‘the chosen ones’. The terrorists start the rumors and the world plays broken telephone with it.
Hamas is the new hierarchy in the terrorist world. They’re worse than Isis. You remember them, the ones that used to love to chop off heads on video? Did you know in 1936 there were 16.6 million Jews, and now there are 16.1 left in the world. Jews are a mere dot in the world and Israel has fought to exist for thousands of years.
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Look at a map of the middle east and notice the tiny dot of might, surrounded by scary Arab countries, of which one never knows when they may feel like attacking. – Israel would not deny or confirm when that hospital was hit until evidence was viewed, and unlike Hamas who announced it was Israel within minutes after the hit (to initiate their propaganda, sound familiar?), the missile was the doing of Hamas – for whatever reasons, a bad shot, or intentional. So the world stuck with it. President Biden confirmed it to the world, and so did all the sane leaders of the western world, oh, except Canada’s PM, he couldn’t make up his mind who to believe, Biden had long announced the findings. A week later JT announced Canada agrees, it was Hamas. Oh, gee thanks. In the meanwhile, Jews around the world are frightened, and let me tell you, a lot of what’s going on smells a lot like 1939 to me.
This photo taken in Turkey, supposedly a democratic, NATO country.
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Thank you to Barnez Jumah who explained this post he shared: History 101 – The Beginning:
“The land of Israel has been populated by the Jewish people since 2000 BC. Here’s the timeline, in case you didn’t realize that it is their homeland, as designated by Lord Jesus Christ.
1900 BC: Abraham chosen by God as the Father of the Jewish Nation.
1900 BC: Isaac, Abraham’s son, rules over Israel.
1850 BC: Jacob, son of Issac, rules over Israel.
1400 BC: Moses leads the people out of Egypt and back to Israel.
1010 BC: King David unites the 12 tribes into one nation.
970 BC: King Solomon, son of David, builds the first temple structure in Jerusalem
930 BC: Israel is divided into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.
800s BC: The rise of the prophets, God’s messengers.
722 BC: Kingdom of Israel is conquered by Assyrians.
605 BC: Kingdom Judah is conquered by the Babylonians.
586 BC: Solomon’s Temple is destroyed by the Babylonians.
539 BC: Persians conquer the Babylonians and take control of Israel.
538 BC: The Jews return to Israel from exile.
520 BC: The Temple is rebuilt.
450 BC: Reforms made by Ezra and Nehemiah.
433 BC: Malachi is the end of the prophetic age.
432 BC: The last group of Jews return from exile.
333 BC: The Greeks conquer the Persian empire.
323 BC: The Egyptian and Syrian empire take over Israel.
167 BC: Hasmonean’s recapture Israel, and the Jews are ruled independently.
70 BC: Romans conquer Israel.
20 BC: King Herod builds the “second” temple
6 BC: Jesus Christ is born in Bethlehem
70 AD: Romans destroy the temple
After that, the people were captives to the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Crusaders. Through all of these events, the Jewish people continued to live in Israel. There were more or less of them, depending on the centuries, but there was never a time when the Jews didn’t live in the land. They stayed, they built their communities, they raised their families, practiced their faith and they suffered at the hands of many outside rulers, but they always kept their faith. It is what sustains them, even now.”
I’m just going to say it. I’m so sick of the growing antisemitism, that really isn’t growing, just people’s ugliness is being revealed.Toronto is appalling! Our PM was the last person on the planet to say that HamASS shot their own hospital. He says nothing to make anyone feel better or to even attempt to bridge the hatred, and is more concerned with Palestine, than the Jews in Canada, who are too staying quiet because of all the NON CONDEMNED HATRED going on in my city.
Gaza protests banging down MP doors to demand a ceasefire by the : “Apartheid and Genocide Israelies”, what the world has coined them. Canadian government allows the mass Palestinian protests daily, intimidating Jews, pulling ‘Kidnapped’ hostage posters off wherever they’ve been plastered. They chant ‘Free Palestine’ in English, then change to ‘Death to the Jews’ in Arabic.
Well here’s my piece, That’s not how politics work in a democratic country. You want to be wild animals, go back to where you came from and do that. Here, we’re entitled to freely protest, but not spew hate and death. It would be nice to see anyone with authority in this city stop feeling intimidated and enforce the law. AND FYI, Canada does not make decisions on what the hell the Iraeli army does. Neither does the world! Israel is not going to ceasefire and wait for the murderers to kill all of Israel, WHICH IS THEIR MISSION. So get over yourselves and your terrorist networks. And take your dirty anti-semitism with you!
I’m ashamed of Canada. Nothing from JT, but I appreciate the Israeli IDF keeping ALL Jews in the world informed, such as with this warning video asking that ALL JEWS please refrain from wearing religious objects.
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Here’s a sweet little article from the Hamas Leader I came across in the National Post:
“When Hamas says it is a murderous, barbaric, evil cult that’s pathologically committed to murdering all Jews, at every opportunity, now and in the future, why do so many in the West refuse to believe it?
“What strange and hypocritical times we live in when a teacher can be removed from his or her job and have his or her career ruined for addressing a student in their birth name instead of their new chosen name but we can have demonstrators in the streets supporting a vicious terrorist organization and calling for the death of Jews and Israel.
What have we become? Freedom of speech and assembly is one of our pillars but not when it supports or calls for violence against another ethnic group.
Where is our virtue-signalling federal government in all of this? England, France and Germany have all empowered their security services to look at who is participating in these tasteless demonstrations and if necessary deport them from their countries. . . you can read more in the link below.
Don Elliott, Richelieu, Que. – If you’d like to read more opinions about Canada’s silence, please continue reading at the National Post.
This video was brought to my attention. It’s almost an hour long, but wow, it’s a clear breakdown on hate and the frightening consequences of propaganda: Douglas Murray is a British writer and political commentator. He is an associate editor of the Spectator and a columnist at the Telegraph and the New York Post among others. He is the author of many best-selling books including The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam (2017), The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity (2019), and The War on the West: How to Prevail in the Age of Unreason (2022).
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History 101
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Because we’re all going to need the prayers to avoid this war potentially escalating into WWIII. If Israel is defeated there would be no law and order left in the Middle Eastern world. And the West will be next on the agenda.
History repeats, just another location ~ D.G. Kaye
Hi Peeps. It’s been a while since I shared updates on what’s been going on in my world. To be honest, this past month’s Mercury Retrograde has been quite a volatile one for many, and although I did my best to stay under mercury’s radar, when it comes to tech, it’s hard to avoid.
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I did manage to dodge much of what I’ve read many have dealt with in their technical snafus, but one thing is for sure – WordPress is always chaotic in a retrograde – especially when they decide to do upgrades in the midst of one! For example, I have had many a trouble being able to comment this week in particular, on blogs I follow. It seems to me WP has made commenting with different sign-in boxes, and apparently, I am no longer recognized on some blogs I follow. Some blogs allowed me to comment after several stubborn attempts, where others seem to have the security of Fort Knox and won’t allow me to comment. Now, I already had this problem with blogs that aren’t on WP, more specifically – Blogger. But now WP is giving me grief. So if you’re a blogger who noticed my ‘like’ and avatar on one of your posts, but received no comment from me, please know I had good intentions. 🙂
How do I know when WP is doing an upgrade? Many signs! First, for most of mercurious September I had trouble logging into my own blog, Spam comments were in the hundreds – daily, when I tried to preview a post before publishing – it wouldn’t show me the post, only that ‘the page I’m trying to see doesn’t exist’. Instead of pre-drafting my posts, I had to post when I wanted it out at the specific time because then I could preview the new post and make changes immediately after viewing the actual post, hoping nobody sees it before I edit spacing, which can be a problem in the block editor. So annoying!
Also, the amount of scamspam I’m receiving in emails and on my mobile are ridiculous! I think I’ve had text messages from every bank of Canada that I “apparently” have accounts and credit cards with (NOT), asking me to log in to update my banking info, LOL, again, NOT! And let’s not forget the scam mails trying to get me to log into my Canada Revenue account. I’ve also had scamspam galore in emails from Amazon, Netflix, Paypal, and surprisingly, from Apple (which I own no devices from), intricately designed to not look like scam, but for the ridiculous tail ending of the sender’s email address. All of these ‘scam’ tech firms have sent scam mail urging me to update my credit card info on file because it’s expired or didn’t go through. Hmm, didn’t go through because I owe them nothing, and update my credit card which is far from its expiry date. Oh sure, why don’t I just click on your links so I can be robbed by you scammers? Remember: NEVER, EVER click on ANY links sent in an email to input personal data! GO DIRECTLY to the site and log in to see what’s actually going on.
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Also, important to note about these scam emails, by just deleting them, these criminals keep going and finding new suckers. But did you know that many of these sites have a forwarding ‘spoof’ or ‘phishing’ email address that you should forward these emails to so the respective companies can squash them down like Wacamoles as they come in? For example, Amazon has an address where you can forward the scamspam – spoofing@Amazon.com. Paypal has one too – phishing@paypal.com. Most of these sites we use with our credit cards have spoofing/phishing forwarding emails I always use to send scammers mail along to. It’s easy to locate these email addresses by simply Googling a particular site’s ‘report spam’ emails.
So where else did Mercury Retrograde get me? Well, there were a few times my laptop wouldn’t even turn on, leaving that dreaded fear of the ‘black screen’ syndrome. A new laptop is not in my budget right now, so thankfully, Google helped me out to get it turned back on. But, I am heart-broken, and still fighting stubbornly to find a way to turn my damaged Kindle on again.
It was a chain of mercurious events that led to my soggy wet Kindle. In a hurry as always, I’d just changed my big purse to my smaller one, and my Kindle no longer fit in the purse. I also was given a new water bottle from a friend who works at the gym I frequent. I put the full water bottle in a bag with my Kindle. After a ten-minute drive to the gym, I picked up the sopping wet bag. Yup, it leaked all over my Kindle. I immediatey took off the cover and wiped it and the Kindle dry, then left it in the car as I hurried to gym class. By the time I got home it was a few hours and I immediately put my Kindle in a bag of rice. This trick has saved mine and my husband’s cell phones once before. It’s been a week now and my poor Kindle is resting in yet, a new bag of rice. I’ve prayed to the Kindle gods and still hoping one day it will turn on. With over 1200 books on my Kindle, and it only being two-years-old, I am devastated that the price now is DOUBLE what I paid it, and again, not in the budget. If anyone here has any new tricks to get my, what must surely be dry now, Kindle working, please share.
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What else has Mercurious Retrograde brought? Oh yes. I spent a lot of time surfing around last week for a place to stay for winter in Puerto Vallarta. Due to the craziness in rental prices out of control there now, it was difficult finding something in my budget. And after several hours of searching and thinking I found the right place, I hit the ‘book’ button – to no avail. The gear just spun round and round, leaving me unable to book. I tried fervently three more times to book by logging out and back in – to no avail. I took it as a sign – NOT MEANT TO BE. So, as of yet, I’ve booked nothing as the pickings get slimmer. But if something doesn’t feel right by me, it ain’t happening. So I’m awaiting the universe to let me know where it is I should be going. Also, I am still trying to work a trip to Spain – still uncertain about those details of where and when. Oh, the uncertainty of Mercury Retrograde!
As for what else? Well, I’ve also been quite busy going to the gym three to four times a week and taking classes, and socializing with my many new women friends. I’ve gone for lunches and dinners with a few, shopping with others, and my friend Dorothy who runs the women’s gym, has invited me to her home for Canadian Thanksgiving. I can’t tell you how much these women have meant to me coming into my life. Many of them are younger than me and couldn’t care less about age. The empowerment from that gym is amazing!
Last but not least, the writing front. Admittedly, I have to say that throughout the summer I haven’t been very productive on the writing front. Oh yes, lots of unpublished poetry and more thoughts written for my Grief book, as well as my articles I write for Sally’s Smorgasbord Blog Magazine in my Spiritual Awareness column, as well as my book reviews. But other than that, I just felt like going with my procrastination on my book writing, and just enjoyed being with friends instead. Truth be told, I have been wanting to begin the revising and rewriting of my writing for my Grief book, but every time I have attempted to begin, my stomach turned and the PTSD kicks in at the thought of reliving the nightmare of watching my husband’s dying for months, and then his passing. I know in my soul I want to write this book, but I’ve yet to figure out a way to numb myself enough to begin. Again, I will trust in the universe to let me know when the time will be right.
So, does anyone have anything to report here about their own Mercury Retrograde encounters?
Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing a powerful poetry book – Poetry for the Blind by Atmos. The title can be misleading as it’s more of a metaphor, calling for people to open their eyes. I came to reading this book from Harmony Kent’s review of same book, on her blog. It’s powerful prose to pause on.
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About the author
Atmos is an ambient music producer, progressive rock songwriter, ink artist, free verse poet, and fantasy fiction author known for being an animal welfare and mental health advocate, mindfulness practitioner, environmentalist, marathon runner, and Buddhist monastery visitor.
Atmos is focused on a mission of inspiring others, building meaningful relationships, and promoting positive change amidst the inevitable challenges of life.
Inspired by the works of Pink Floyd, Tool, Rumi, Alex Grey, and Salvador Dalí, Atmos’ diverse creative artistry lends itself to his creative projects, resulting in a unique fusion of music, art, literature, philosophy, spirituality, science, and world culture.
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Blurb:
How often do we reflect on the life we are living or the kind of future we are heading towards as a species?
The way that we think of the world shapes the world that we live in and how we interact with it.
Poetry for the Blind is a collection of poems about issues in the world, philosophy, consciousness, raising awareness of gratitude, promoting positive change, and concerns for the future of humanity.
Through poetry, this book offers readers a way to explore the human condition through the eyes of the author and reflect on issues affecting the collective consciousness residing in human lives on a mass scale. Through turmoil and devastating circumstances, Poetry for the Blind progresses towards a sense of possibility and hope for a positive future—a future that we can still have.
We have the power to change the world but we have to start with ourselves first.
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My 5 Star Review:
This book is what I’d classify as thought provoking poetry; like a poetic glossary of the meaning of important words of life and the essence of what each titled passage represents to us all as humans who share the same planet, – love, loss, death, war, courage, and so many more; all circling around the human condition. “Life can be a wonderful journey but we have to stand together as one against injustice and discrimination against each other. We are all parts of the whole and we are all connected.” The poems of Atmos are reflections on various components of living and human decency and emotion.
As the author states, he wrote this book to highlight the injustices of the society, and offer hope. And don’t be fooled by the title, it’s a metaphor – translation: ‘messages of awakening’. My perception of the title is that this wonderfully stated poetry should be required reading for many, as I believe ‘the blind’ is a gentle reminder to open our eyes to the world around us.
This book can be read in one sitting, just as each poem can be read randomly to savor.
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All these poems spoke to me and reiterated many of my own beliefs. I will share a few snippets from some, below:
Are you always your authentic self or do you have different personnas for different environments?
Do you alter your voice for different people or when in different settings?
Are you quieter around some people and bolder around others? Or are you just you, the same you all the time no matter who you’re with or where you are? Now, I’m not referring to toning down ourselves for a situation such as, we’re in church so we have to whisper. That doesn’t alter who we are just because we lowered our voice. I’m referring to our personalities. Often, people change their characters or personality to fit in with their surroundings, either because they feel pressured (from outside influences, or their own pressure put upon themselves).
I am me. Often, when I meet people in person who I’d previously only spoken to on phone or online and when we meet, they tell me I’m just how I sound. My bubbly personality is my usual mode (when I’m not in grieving mode). Those who know me and/or my books, know that I am the same me whether I’m talking on my blog, social media, or writing a book. Of course, I’m a nonfiction author, meaning all my stories are my truth. So naturally, my writing will sound the same everywhere, even in comments. But in everyday life, and certainly on social media, many people disguise their real personality.
Some people try to be someone they’re not, especially when trying to impress another, or perhaps because they feel insecure around someone who may be more well-known or popular, or perhaps when around an authority type. Others may become shrinking violets around stronger personalities, whereas, others may come off as bullyish when they can’t take the spotlight.
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I’ll use my mother, who was a staunch narcissist, as an example of switching characters:
My mother had a special, what me and my siblings used to refer to as her ‘pretendy’ voice. My mother had a constant need to be the most popular, the most beautiful, the absolute center of attention anywhere she went, and often, she’d lie and pretend to be more than who she was if opportunity struck. When she was around people she wanted to impress, she’d use ‘that’ voice. It drove us kids crazy. Her inauthenticity never failed to catch our attention, and quietly, me and my siblings would chuckle and give each other the eyeroll when our mother went in ‘performance’ mode. In these instances, her voice would go up an octave when introduced to or introducing someone, especially with one who had lots of money. My mother was always trying to impress anyone who would fawn over her.
As I grew up I studied my mother since I was a young child. When I was very young, I idolized my mother because I felt like I was living with a movie-star-like mother. But once I turned six or seven, I became a quick-study. I began to realize that how my mother treated my father wasn’t right. And by the time I was eleven, I was so on to her. I’d already lived so much under her rule by then, I watched and listened intensely to her behavior. I realized she had a whole ‘nother side to her personality, a very manipulative one. And I knew that she was fearless and would stoop to anything to get her way for anything she wanted to have or do.
I used my mother as an example of how people’s behaviors demonstrate how and who they are. Not everyone is always their authentic selves. But as it turned out in my case, I was lucky I was intuitive and observant because looking back, I can see how easy it could have been to become a follower instead of learning how not to be like her. I took the higher road in life and have no regrets. I learned how important it was to be authentic, never wanting to become a phony like my mother was. And most likely, my growing up life was inspired by my young life, which helped shape me to become authentic, one who learned to call out bullshit and injustice, and ultimately, a writer who is compelled to speak truth.
I suppose I could easily have become a fictional writer, given the colorful background of my young life, where escape stories were my go to. But as I grew older, I chose to write about truth in my stories instead of hiding them under the cover of fiction.
“Be yourself, everyone else is taken.” – Oscar Wilde
Welcome back to my Spiritual Awareness series. Today’s discussion is about vibrations, the sensory internal feelings we receive from our immediate surroundings. We can’t see them, but we can certainly feel them. Vibes are energy exuded into the atmosphere. This is because our bodies are composed of molecules, which facilitate electro-magnetic energy. So, when we say, we got a good or bad vibe, that’s because magnetic energy emanates through the atmosphere, and we can feel it.
Have you ever walked into a room full of negative and bad energy? Then you will know the cliched saying: ‘You could cut the air with a knife.” Just like when we watch a movie that makes us cry, how did that happen? Because the character’s emotional vibrations jumped off the screen and made us feel what they were feeling.
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Vibes are the energy we give off. Our mood, expressions, our tone of voice, all give off vibes. Vibes are our alert system to the temperature of our surroundings. Our thoughts and emotions create the vibrations we give off.
Vibes are like a sixth sense or intuitive energy that flows within, alerting us that something is off, or on the contrary, something exciting is going on. The good vibes may well feel like that butterfly feeling within we sometimes feel when we’re excited, apprehensive, or forewarned. All these emotions stem from the vibes we pick up.
The more in tune we are with ourselves and surroundings, the more our awareness heightens. If you want to raise your energetic vibration level, do things that make your body and soul happy. Simply going for a walk outside, taking a yoga class, doing meditations, and anything that gives our soul a lift, will help us achieve a higher vibration. When our being is in a good place with ourselves and we smile at someone, offer compassion, good manners, we are giving off good spiritual vibes, and spreading the contagion.
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Even our body language gives off a vibe. If we see someone looking stern or miserable with their arms folded, we can almost feel their anger or unhappiness, that’s because of the energy they are giving off. Every emotion gives off an energy for anyone nearby to notice. If we’re in a room with a bunch of downer people, we aren’t likely to want to hang around there. Alternatively, when we walk into a happy gathering where people are mingling and laughter is in the air, instinctively, we want to be part of that scene, because we feel good and comfortable in that scenario. When we hear an upbeat song that brings us a happy memory, we can’t help but feel like we’re vibing high, and motivated. Our behaviors and expressions are reflections of what is currently going on in our subconscious.
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Suffice it to say, all our internal emotions are instinctively emoted through our body language and facial expressions. Even our silences and tone of voice we speak in, emits a vibe. . . please read the conclusion at Sally’s blog. . .
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